Method and terminal device for allocating resources in a plurality of subframes

ABSTRACT

A method operating a telecommunications system including a base station and plural terminal devices arranged to communicate over a radio interface supporting a downlink shared channel conveying user-plane data from the base station to the terminal devices and a downlink control channel conveying control-plane data from the base station to the terminal devices. The control-plane data conveys information on physical resource allocations for the downlink shared channel for respective of the terminal devices. The radio interface is based on a radio frame structure including plural subframes each including a control region supporting the downlink control channel and a user-plane region supporting the downlink shared channel. The method uses the control region of a first radio subframe to convey an indication of a physical resource allocation for a first terminal device on the shared downlink channel in the user-plane region of a second radio subframe subsequent to the first radio subframe.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/394,381, filed on Oct. 14, 2014, which is based on PCT/GB2013/051277filed May 17, 2013, and claims priority to British Patent Application1208906.6, filed in the UK IPO on May 21, 2012. The disclosures of theapplications referenced above are incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wireless telecommunications systems andmethods, and in particular to systems and methods for allocatingtransmission resources in wireless telecommunication systems.

Mobile communication systems have evolved over the past ten years or sofrom the GSM System (Global System for Mobile communications) to the 3Gsystem and now include packet data communications as well as circuitswitched communications. The third generation partnership project (3GPP)is developing a fourth generation mobile communication system referredto as Long Term Evolution (LTE) in which a core network part has beenevolved to form a more simplified architecture based on a merging ofcomponents of earlier mobile radio network architectures and a radioaccess interface which is based on Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and Single Carrier FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) on the uplink.

Third and fourth generation mobile telecommunication systems, such asthose based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE)architectures, are able to support a more sophisticated range ofservices than simple voice and messaging services offered by previousgenerations of mobile telecommunication systems.

For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data ratesprovided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rateapplications such as mobile video streaming and mobile videoconferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixedline data connection. The demand to deploy third and fourth generationnetworks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks,i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, isexpected to increase rapidly.

The anticipated widespread deployment of third and fourth generationnetworks has led to the parallel development of a class of devices andapplications which, rather than taking advantage of the high data ratesavailable, instead take advantage of the robust radio interface andincreasing ubiquity of the coverage area. Examples include so-calledmachine type communication (MTC) applications, some of which are in somerespects typified by semi-autonomous or autonomous wirelesscommunication devices (MTC devices) communicating small amounts of dataon a relatively infrequent basis. Examples include so-called smartmeters which, for example, are located in a customer's home andperiodically transmit data back to a central MTC server relating to thecustomer's consumption of a utility such as gas, water, electricity andso on. Smart metering is merely one example of potential MTC deviceapplications. Further information on characteristics of MTC-type devicescan be found, for example, in the corresponding standards, such as ETSITS 122 368 V10.530 (2011-07)/3GPP TS 22.368 version 10.5.0 Release 10)[1].

Whilst it can be convenient for a terminal such as an MTC-type terminalto take advantage of the wide coverage area provided by a third orfourth generation mobile telecommunication network there are at presentdisadvantages. Unlike a conventional third or fourth generation mobileterminal such as a smartphone, a primary driver for MTC-type terminalswill be a desire for such terminals to be relatively simple andinexpensive. The type of functions typically performed by an MTC-typeterminal (e.g. simple collection and reporting/reception of relativelysmall amounts of data) do not require particularly complex processing toperform, for example, compared to a smartphone supporting videostreaming. However, third and fourth generation mobile telecommunicationnetworks typically employ advanced data modulation techniques andsupport wide bandwidth usage on the radio interface which can requiremore complex and expensive radio transceivers and decoders to implement.It is usually justified to include such complex elements in a smartphoneas a smartphone will typically require a powerful processor to performtypical smartphone type functions. However, as indicated above, there isnow a desire to use relatively inexpensive and less complex deviceswhich are nonetheless able to communicate using LTE-type networks.

With this in mind there has been proposed a concept of so-called“virtual carriers” operating within the bandwidth of a “host carrier”,for example, as described in co-pending UK patent applications numberedGB 1101970.0 [2], GB 1101981.7 [3], GB 1101966.8 [4], GB 1101983.3 [5],GB 1101853.8 [6], GB 1101982.5 [7], GB 1101980.9 [8] and GB 1101972.6[9]. A main principle underlying the concept of a virtual carrier isthat a frequency subregion within a wider bandwidth host carrier isconfigured for use as a self-contained carrier, for example includingall control signalling within the frequency subregion. An advantage ofthis approach is to provide a carrier for use by low-capability terminaldevices capable of operating over only relatively narrow bandwidths.This allows devices to communicate on LTE-type networks, withoutrequiring the devices to support full bandwidth operation. By reducingthe bandwidth of the signal that needs to be decoded, the front endprocessing requirements (e.g., FFT, channel estimation, subframebuffering etc.) of a device configured to operate on a virtual carrierare reduced since the complexity of these functions is generally relatedto the bandwidth of the signal received.

There are, however, some potential drawbacks with some implementationsof the “virtual carrier” approach. For example, in accordance with someproposed approaches the available spectrum is hard partitioned betweenthe virtual carrier and the host carrier. This hard partitioning can beinefficient for a number of reasons. For example, the peak data ratethat can be supported by high-rate legacy devices is reduced becausehigh-rate devices can only be scheduled a portion of the bandwidth (andnot the whole bandwidth). Also, when the bandwidth is partitioned inthis way there can be a loss of trunking efficiency (there is astatistical multiplexing loss).

What is more, in some respects the virtual carrier approach represents arelatively significant departure from the current operating principlesfor LTE-type networks. This means relatively substantial changes to thecurrent standards might be required to incorporate the virtual carrierconcept into the LTE standards framework, thereby increasing thepractical difficulty of rolling out these proposed implementations.

Another proposal for reducing the required complexity of devicesconfigured to communicate over LTE-type networks is proposed inco-pending UK patent applications numbered GB 1121767.6 [11] and GB1121766.8 [12]. These applications propose schemes for communicatingdata between a base station and a reduced-capability terminal device inan LTE-type wireless telecommunications system operating over a systemfrequency band. Physical-layer control information for thereduced-capability terminal device is transmitted from the base stationusing subcarriers selected from across the system frequency band as forconventional LTE terminal devices. However, higher-layer data forreduced-capability terminal devices (e.g. ATC user-plane data) istransmitted using only subcarriers selected from within a restrictedfrequency band which is smaller than and within the system frequencyband. The terminal device is aware of the restricted frequency band, andas such need only buffer and process data within this restrictedfrequency band during periods where higher-layer data is beingtransmitted. The terminal device buffers and processes the full systemfrequency band during periods when physical-layer control information isbeing transmitted. Thus, the reduced-capability terminal device may beincorporated in a network in which physical-layer control information istransmitted over a wide frequency range, but only needs to havesufficient memory and processing capacity to process a smaller range offrequencies for the higher-layer data.

There are, however, some potential drawbacks with some implementationsof the schemes proposed in GB 1121767.6 [11] and GB 1121766.8 [12]. Forexample, the scheduling flexibility available to the base station may bereduced because of the requirement to allocate resources toreduced-capability devices within a narrowed frequency band.Furthermore, where there is at least flexibility in selecting thereduced frequency band to be used, there can be a need for additionalsignalling between the base station and the reduced-capability terminaldevices to negotiate (i.e. agree) the frequency range to be used. Thisis because the reduced-capability terminal device and the base stationboth need to know the narrowed bandwidth to be used such that theterminal device knows which part of the frame structure to buffer, andthe base station knows to allocate resources for the reduced capabilityterminal device within this bandwidth.

Another proposal for reducing the required complexity of devicesconfigured to communicate over LTE-type networks is proposed in thediscussion document R1-113113 from Pantech submitted for the 3GPPTSG-RAN WG1 #66bis meeting in Zhuhai, China, 10 Oct. 2011 to 14 Oct.2011 [12]. The proposal is for low-complexity terminal devices to beallocated a limited number of physical resource blocks as compared to adevice with is fully LTE-compliant. This scheduling restriction meansterminal devices can implement their turbo decoding function moresimply, thereby reducing the processing complexity required.

However, while this can be helpful in reducing the processing capabilityrequired for turbo decoding, significant amounts of a device'sprocessing requirements are associated with front-end digital signalprocessing functions prior to turbo decoding. Such front-end digitalsignal processing functions include, for example, FFT/IFFT (fast Fouriertransform/inverse fast Fourier transform), channel estimation,equalization, digital filtering, etc.

Accordingly, there remains a desire for approaches which allowrelatively inexpensive and low complexity devices to communicate usingLTE-type networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method ofoperating a base station in a telecommunications system comprising thebase station and a plurality of terminal devices arranged to communicatewith the base station over a radio interface supporting a downlinkshared channel for conveying user-plane data from the base station tothe terminal devices and a downlink control channel for conveyingcontrol-plane data from the base station to the terminal devices,wherein the control-plane data conveys information on physical resourceallocations for the downlink shared channel for respective ones of theterminal devices, and wherein the radio interface is based on a radioframe structure comprising a plurality of subframes, wherein eachsubframe comprises a control region for supporting the downlink controlchannel and a user-plane region for supporting the downlink sharedchannel, and wherein the method comprises transmitting in the controlregion of a first radio subframe an indication of a physical resourceallocation for a first terminal device on the shared downlink channel inthe user-plane region of a second radio subframe, and subsequentlytransmitting user-plane data on the physical resource allocation for thefirst terminal device on the shared downlink channel in the user-planeregion of the second radio subframe.

In accordance with some embodiments the second radio subframe istransmitted a predefined interval after the first radio subframe.

In accordance with some embodiments the predefined interval is of aduration which corresponds with a predefined number of subframes.

In accordance with some embodiments the second radio subframe istransmitted a selectable interval after the first radio subframe and thephysical resource allocation for the first terminal device istransmitted in association with an indication of a selected interval.

In accordance with some embodiments the indication of the selectedinterval comprises an indication of a number of subframes.

In accordance with some embodiments the control region of the firstradio subframe is further used to transmit a physical resourceallocation for a second terminal device on the shared downlink channelin the user-plane region of the first radio subframe.

In accordance with some embodiments the first terminal device is aterminal device of a first type and the second terminal device is aterminal device of a second type, the second type being different fromthe first type.

In accordance with some embodiments the physical resource allocation forthe first terminal device is transmitted using a first format forconveying control-plane data and the physical resource allocation forthe second terminal device is transmitted using a second format forconveying control-plane data, the second format being different from thefirst format.

In accordance with some embodiments the physical resource allocation forthe first terminal device is transmitted using a first format forconveying control-plane data and the physical resource allocation forthe second terminal device is transmitted using a second format forconveying control-plane data, the second format being the same as thefirst format.

In accordance with some embodiments the first terminal and secondterminal devices are of the same type.

In accordance with some embodiments the method further comprisesdetermining an estimate of extent to which available resources in thecontrol region of the first and/or second radio subframe will be used toconvey physical resource allocations for terminal devices beforetransmitting the control region of the first radio subframe, and, basedon the estimate, deciding to use the first radio subframe to convey anindication of a physical resource allocation in the second radiosubframe.

In accordance with some embodiments the first terminal device is amachine-type communication, MTC, terminal device.

In accordance with some embodiments the telecommunications system isbased around a 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, architecture.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a basestation for use in a telecommunications system comprising the basestation and a plurality of terminal devices arranged to communicate withthe base station over a radio interface supporting a downlink sharedchannel for conveying user-plane data from the base station to theterminal devices and a downlink control channel for conveyingcontrol-plane data from the base station to the terminal devices,wherein the control-plane data conveys information on physical resourceallocations for the downlink shared channel for respective ones of theterminal devices, and wherein the radio interface is based on a radioframe structure comprising a plurality of subframes, wherein eachsubframe comprises a control region for supporting the downlink controlchannel and a user-plane region for supporting the downlink sharedchannel, and wherein the base station is configured to transmit in thecontrol region of a first radio subframe an indication of a physicalresource allocation for a first terminal device on the shared downlinkchannel in the user-plane region of a second radio subframe and tosubsequently transmit user-plane data on the physical resourceallocation for the first terminal device on the shared downlink channelin the user-plane region of the second radio subframe.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a methodof operating a telecommunications system comprising a base station and aplurality of terminal devices arranged to communicate over a radiointerface supporting a downlink shared channel for conveying user-planedata from the base station to the terminal devices and a downlinkcontrol channel for conveying control-plane data from the base stationto the terminal devices, wherein the control-plane data is arranged toconvey information on physical resource allocations for the downlinkshared channel for respective ones of the terminal devices, and whereinthe radio interface is based on a radio frame structure comprising aplurality of subframes, wherein each subframe comprises a control regionfor supporting the downlink control channel and a user-plane region forsupporting the downlink shared channel, and wherein the method comprisesusing the control region of a first radio subframe to convey anindication of a physical resource allocation for a first terminal deviceon the shared downlink channel in the user-plane region of a secondradio subframe, the second radio frame being subsequent to the firstradio subframe.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided atelecommunications system comprising a base station and a plurality ofterminal devices arranged to communicate over a radio interfacesupporting a downlink shared channel for conveying user-plane data fromthe base station to the terminal devices and a downlink control channelfor conveying control-plane data from the base station to the terminaldevices, wherein the control-plane data is arranged to conveyinformation on physical resource allocations for the downlink sharedchannel for respective ones of the terminal devices, and wherein theradio interface is based on a radio frame structure comprising aplurality of subframes, wherein each subframe comprises a control regionfor supporting the downlink control channel and a user-plane region forsupporting the downlink shared channel, and wherein thetelecommunications system is configured such that the control region ofa first radio subframe is used to convey an indication of a physicalresource allocation for a first terminal device on the shared downlinkchannel in the user-plane region of a second radio subframe, the secondradio frame being subsequent to the first radio subframe.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a methodof operating a terminal device for communicating with a base station ina telecommunications system over a radio interface supporting a downlinkshared channel for conveying user-plane data from the base station tothe terminal device and a downlink control channel for conveyingcontrol-plane data from the base station to the terminal device, whereinthe control-plane data conveys information on physical resourceallocations for the downlink shared channel for the terminal device, andwherein the radio interface is based on a radio frame structurecomprising a plurality of subframes, wherein each subframe comprises acontrol region for supporting the downlink control channel and auser-plane region for supporting the downlink shared channel, andwherein the method comprises receiving in the control region of a firstradio subframe an indication of a physical resource allocation for theterminal device on the shared downlink channel in the user-plane regionof a second radio subframe, and subsequently receiving user-plane dataon the physical resource allocation for the terminal device on theshared downlink channel in the user-plane region of the second radiosubframe.

In accordance with some embodiments the second radio subframe isreceived a predefined interval after the first radio subframe.

In accordance with some embodiments the predefined interval is of aduration which corresponds with a predefined number of subframes.

In accordance with some embodiments second radio subframe is received aselectable interval after the first radio subframe and the physicalresource allocation for the terminal device is received in associationwith an indication of a selected interval.

In accordance with some embodiments the indication of the selectedinterval comprises an indication of a number of subframes.

In accordance with some embodiments the control region of the firstradio subframe is further used to convey a physical resource allocationfor a further terminal device on the shared downlink channel in theuser-plane region of the first radio subframe.

In accordance with some embodiments the terminal device is a terminaldevice of a first type and the further terminal device is a terminaldevice of a second type, the second type being different from the firsttype.

In accordance with some embodiments the physical resource allocation forthe terminal device is received using a first format for conveyingcontrol-plane data and the physical resource allocation for the furtherterminal device is in a second format for conveying control-plane data,the second format being different from the first format.

In accordance with some embodiments the physical resource allocation forthe terminal device is received using a first format for conveyingcontrol-plane data and the physical resource allocation for the furtherterminal device is in a second format for conveying control-plane data,the second format being the same as the first format.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided aterminal device for communicating with a base station in atelecommunications system over a radio interface supporting a downlinkshared channel for conveying user-plane data from the base station tothe terminal device and a downlink control channel for conveyingcontrol-plane data from the base station to the terminal device, whereinthe control-plane data conveys information on physical resourceallocations for the downlink shared channel for the terminal device, andwherein the radio interface is based on a radio frame structurecomprising a plurality of subframes, wherein each subframe comprises acontrol region for supporting the downlink control channel and auser-plane region for supporting the downlink shared channel, andwherein the terminal device is configured to receive in the controlregion of a first radio subframe an indication of a physical resourceallocation for the terminal device on the shared downlink channel in theuser-plane region of a second radio subframe and to subsequently receiveuser-plane data on the physical resource allocation for the terminaldevice on the shared downlink channel in the user-plane region of thesecond radio subframe.

It will be appreciated that features and aspects of the inventiondescribed above in relation to the first and other aspects of theinvention are equally applicable and may be combined with embodiments ofthe invention according to the different aspects of the invention asappropriate, and not just in the specific combinations described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way ofexample only with reference to the accompanying drawings where likeparts are provided with corresponding reference numerals and in which:

FIG. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating an example of aconventional mobile telecommunication system;

FIG. 2 provides a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional LTEradio frame;

FIG. 3 provides a schematic diagram illustrating an example of aconventional LTE downlink radio subframe;

FIG. 4 provides a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional LTE“camp-on” procedure;

FIG. 5 schematically represents a wireless telecommunications systemaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 schematically represents two arbitrary downlink subframes forcommunicating with a conventional terminal device operating in thewireless telecommunications system of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 schematically represents two arbitrary downlink subframes forcommunicating with a terminal device operating according to anembodiment of the invention in the wireless telecommunications system ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 8 schematically represents three arbitrary downlink subframes forcommunicating with terminal devices in accordance with anotherembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 schematically represents two arbitrary downlink subframes forcommunicating with terminal devices in accordance with anotherembodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basicfunctionality of a mobile telecommunications network/system 100operating in accordance with LTE principles and which may be adapted toimplement embodiments of the invention as described further below.Various elements of FIG. 1 and their respective modes of operation arewell-known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the3GPP® body and also described in many books on the subject, for example,Holma H. and Toskala A [13]. It will be appreciated that operationalaspects of the telecommunications network which are not specificallydescribed below may be implemented in accordance with any knowntechniques, for example according to the relevant standards.

The network 100 includes a plurality of base stations 101 connected to acore network 102. Each base station provides a coverage area 103 (i.e. acell) within which data can be communicated to and from terminal devices104. Data is transmitted from base stations 101 to terminal devices 104within their respective coverage areas 103 via a radio downlink. Data istransmitted from terminal devices 104 to the base stations 101 via aradio uplink. The core network 102 routes data to and from the terminaldevices 104 via the respective base stations 101 and provides functionssuch as authentication, mobility management, charging and so on.Terminal devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, userequipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, and so forth. Base stationsmay also be referred to as transceiver stations/nodeBs/e-nodeBs, and soforth.

Mobile telecommunications systems such as those arranged in accordancewith the 3GPP defined Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture use anorthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) based interface for theradio downlink (so-called OFDMA) and a single carrier frequency divisionmultiple access scheme (SC-FDMA) on the radio uplink. FIG. 2 shows aschematic diagram illustrating an OFDM based LTE downlink radio frame201. The LTE downlink radio frame is transmitted from an LTE basestation (known as an enhanced Node B) and lasts 10 ms. The downlinkradio frame comprises ten subframes, each subframe lasting 1 ms. Aprimary synchronisation signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronisationsignal (SSS) are transmitted in the first and sixth subframes of the LTEframe. A physical broadcast channel (PBCH) is transmitted in the firstsubframe of the LTE frame.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a grid which illustrates the structureof an example conventional downlink LTE subframe. The subframe comprisesa predetermined number of symbols which are transmitted over a 1 msperiod. Each symbol comprises a predetermined number of orthogonalsubcarriers distributed across the bandwidth of the downlink radiocarrier.

The example subframe shown in FIG. 3 comprises 14 symbols and 1200subcarriers spread across a 20 MHz bandwidth and in this example is thefirst subframe in a frame (hence it contains PBCH). The smallestallocation of physical resource for transmission in LTE is a resourceblock comprising twelve subcarriers transmitted over one subframe. Forclarity, in FIG. 3, each individual resource element is not shown,instead each individual box in the subframe grid corresponds to twelvesubcarriers transmitted on one symbol.

FIG. 3 shows in hatching resource allocations for four LTE terminals340, 341, 342, 343. For example, the resource allocation 342 for a firstLTE terminal (UE 1) extends over five blocks of twelve subcarriers (i.e.60 subcarriers), the resource allocation 343 for a second LTE terminal(UE2) extends over six blocks of twelve subcarriers (i.e. 72subcarriers), and so on.

Control channel data is transmitted in a control region 300 (indicatedby dotted-shading in FIG. 3) of the subframe comprising the first “n”symbols of the subframe where “n” can vary between one and three symbolsfor channel bandwidths of 3 MHz or greater and where “n” can varybetween two and four symbols for a channel bandwidth of 1.4 MHz. For thesake of providing a concrete example, the following description relatesto host carriers with a channel bandwidth of 3 MHz or greater so themaximum value of “n” will be 3 (as in the example of FIG. 3). The datatransmitted in the control region 300 includes data transmitted on thephysical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the physical control formatindicator channel (PCFICH) and the physical HARQ indicator channel(PHICH). These channels transmit physical layer control information.

PDCCH contains control data indicating which subcarriers of the subframehave been allocated to specific LTE terminals. This may be referred toas physical-layer control signalling/data. Thus, the PDCCH datatransmitted in the control region 300 of the subframe shown in FIG. 3would indicate that UE has been allocated the block of resourcesidentified by reference numeral 342, that UE2 has been allocated theblock of resources identified by reference numeral 343, and so on.

PCFICH contains control data indicating the size of the control region(i.e. between one and three symbols for channel bandwidths of 3 MHz orgreater and between two and four symbols for channel bandwidths of 1.4MHz).

PHICH contains HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Request) data indicating whetheror not previously transmitted uplink data has been successfully receivedby the network.

Symbols in a central band 310 of the time-frequency resource grid areused for the transmission of information including the primarysynchronisation signal (PSS), the secondary synchronisation signal (SSS)and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). This central band 310 istypically 72 subcarriers wide (corresponding to a transmission bandwidthof 1.08 MHz). The PSS and SSS are synchronisation signals that oncedetected allow an LTE terminal device to achieve frame synchronisationand determine the physical layer cell identity of the enhanced Node Btransmitting the downlink signal. The PBCH carries information about thecell, comprising a master information block (MIB) that includesparameters that LTE terminals use to properly access the cell. Datatransmitted to individual LTE terminals on the physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) can be transmitted in other resource elements of thesubframe. In general PDSCH conveys a combination of user-plane data andnon-physical layer control-plane data (such as Radio Resource Control(RRC) and Non Access Stratum (NAS) signalling). The user-plane data andnon-physical layer control-plane data conveyed on PDSCH may be referredto as higher layer data (i.e. data associated with a layer higher thanthe physical layer).

FIG. 3 also shows a region of PDSCH containing system information andextending over a bandwidth of R₃₄₄. A conventional LTE subframe willalso include reference signals which are discussed further below but notshown in FIG. 3 in the interests of clarity.

The number of subcarriers in an LTE channel can vary depending on theconfiguration of the transmission network. Typically this variation isfrom 72 sub carriers contained within a 1.4 MHz channel bandwidth to1200 subcarriers contained within a 20 MHz channel bandwidth (asschematically shown in FIG. 3). As is known in the art, data transmittedon the PDCCH, PCFICH and PHICH is typically distributed on thesubcarriers across the entire bandwidth of the subframe to provide forfrequency diversity. Therefore a conventional LTE terminal must be ableto receive the entire channel bandwidth in order to receive and decodethe control region.

FIG. 4 illustrates an LTE “camp-on” process, that is, the processfollowed by a terminal so that it can decode downlink transmissionswhich are sent by a base station via a downlink channel. Using thisprocess, the terminal can identify the parts of the transmissions thatinclude system information for the cell and thus decode configurationinformation for the cell.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, in a conventional LTE camp-on procedure, theterminal first synchronizes with the base station (step 400) using thePSS and SSS in the centre band and then decodes the PBCH (step 401).Once the terminal has performed steps 400 and 401, it is synchronizedwith the base station.

For each subframe, the terminal then decodes the PCFICH which isdistributed across the entire bandwidth of carrier 320 (step 402). Asdiscussed above, an LTE downlink carrier can be up to 20 MHz wide (1200subcarriers) and a standard LTE-compliant terminal therefore has to havethe capability to receive and decode transmissions on a 20 MHz bandwidthin order to decode the PCFICH. Accordingly, at the PCFICH decodingstage, with a 20 MHz carrier band, the terminal operates at a largerbandwidth (bandwidth of R₃₂₀) than during steps 400 and 401 (bandwidthof R₃₁₀) relating to synchronization and PBCH decoding.

The terminal then ascertains the PHICH locations (step 403) and decodesthe PDCCH (step 404), in particular for identifying system informationtransmissions and for identifying its personal allocation grants. Theallocation grants are used by the terminal to locate system informationand to locate its data in the PDSCH. Both system information andpersonal allocations are transmitted on PDSCH and scheduled within thecarrier band 320. Steps 403 and 404 also require a standardLTE-compliant terminal to operate on the entire bandwidth R₃₂₀ of thecarrier band.

At steps 402 to 404, the terminal decodes information contained in thecontrol region 300 of a subframe. As explained above, in LTE, the threecontrol channels mentioned above (PCFICH, PHICH and PDCCH) can be foundacross the control region 300 of the carrier where the control regionextends over the range R₃₂₀ and occupies the first one, two or threeOFDM symbols of each subframe as discussed above. In a subframe,typically the control channels do not use all the resource elementswithin the control region 300, but they are scattered across the entireregion, such that an LTE terminal has to be able to simultaneouslyreceive the entire control region 300 for decoding each of the threecontrol channels.

The terminal can then decode the PDSCH (step 405) which contains systeminformation or data transmitted for this terminal.

As explained above, in an LTE subframe the PDSCH generally occupiesgroups of resource elements which are neither in the control region norin the resource elements occupied by PSS, SSS or PBCH. The data in theblocks of resource elements 340, 341, 342, 343 allocated to thedifferent mobile communication terminals (UEs) shown in FIG. 3 have asmaller bandwidth than the bandwidth of the entire carrier, although todecode these blocks a terminal first receives the PDCCH spread acrossthe frequency range R₃₂₀ to determine if the PDCCH indicates that aPDSCH resource is allocated to the UE and should be decoded. Once a UEhas received the entire subframe, it can then decode the PDSCH in therelevant frequency range (if any) indicated by the PDCCH. So forexample, UE 1 discussed above decodes the whole control region 300 todetermine its resource allocation and then extracts the relevant datafrom the corresponding resource block 342.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a telecommunications system 500 according toan embodiment of the invention. The telecommunications system 500 inthis example is based broadly on an LTE-type architecture. As such manyaspects of the operation of the telecommunications system 500 arestandard and well understood and not described here in detail in theinterest of brevity. Operational aspects of the telecommunicationssystem 500 which are not specifically described herein may beimplemented in accordance with any known techniques, for exampleaccording to the LTE-standards.

The telecommunications system 500 comprises a core network part (evolvedpacket core) 502 coupled to a radio network part. The radio network partcomprises a base station (evolved-nodeB) 504, a first terminal device508 and a second terminal device 506. It will of course be appreciatedthat in practice the radio network part may comprise a plurality of basestations serving a larger number of terminal devices across variouscommunication cells. However, only a single base station and twoterminal devices are shown in FIG. 5 in the interests of simplicity.

The terminal devices 506, 508 are arranged to communicate data to andfrom the base station (transceiver station) 504. The base station is inturn communicatively connected to a serving gateway, S-GW, (not shown)in the core network part which is arranged to perform routing andmanagement of mobile communications services to the terminal devices inthe telecommunications system 500 via the base station 504. In order tomaintain mobility management and connectivity, the core network part 502also includes a mobility management entity (not shown) which manages theenhanced packet service, EPS, connections with the terminal devices 506,508 operating in the communications system based on subscriberinformation stored in a home subscriber server, HSS. Other networkcomponents in the core network (also not shown for simplicity) include apolicy charging and resource function, PCRF, and a packet data networkgateway, PDN-GW, which provides a connection from the core network part502 to an external packet data network, for example the Internet. Asnoted above, the operation of the various elements of the communicationssystem 500 shown in FIG. 5 may be broadly conventional apart from wheremodified to provide functionality in accordance with embodiments of theinvention as discussed herein.

In this example, it is assumed the second terminal device 506 is aconventional smartphone type terminal device communicating with the basestation 504. Thus, and as is conventional, this second terminal device506 comprises a transceiver unit 506 a for transmission and reception ofwireless signals and a controller unit 506 b configured to control thesmart phone 506. The controller unit 506 b may comprise a processor unitwhich is suitably configured/programmed to provide the desiredfunctionality using conventional programming/configuration techniquesfor equipment in wireless telecommunications systems. The transceiverunit 506 a and the controller unit 506 b are schematically shown in FIG.5 as separate elements. However, it will be appreciated that thefunctionality of these units can be provided in various different ways,for example using a single suitably programmed integrated circuit. Aswill be appreciated the smart phone 506 will in general comprise variousother elements associated with its operating functionality.

In this example, it is assumed the first terminal device 508 is amachine-type communication (MTC) terminal device according to anembodiment of the invention. As discussed above, these types of devicemay be typically characterised as semi-autonomous or autonomous wirelesscommunication devices communicating small amounts of data. Examplesinclude so-called smart meters which, for example, may be located in acustomer's house and periodically transmit information back to a centralMTC server data relating to the customer's consumption of a utility suchas gas, water, electricity and so on. MTC devices may in some respectsbe seen as devices which can be supported by relatively low bandwidthcommunication channels having relatively low quality of service (QoS),for example in terms of latency. It is assumed here the MTC terminaldevice 508 in FIG. 5 is such a device. It will, however, the appreciatedthat embodiments of the invention may also be incremented for othertypes of terminal device.

As with the smart phone 506, the MTC device 508 comprises a transceiverunit 508 a for transmission and reception of wireless signals and acontroller unit 508 b configured to control the MTC device 508. Thecontroller unit 508 b may comprise a processor unit which is suitablyconfigured/programmed to provide the desired functionality describedherein using conventional programming/configuration techniques forequipment in wireless telecommunications systems. The transceiver unit508 a and the controller unit 508 b are schematically shown in FIG. 5 asseparate elements for ease of representation. However, it will beappreciated that the functionality of these units can be provided invarious different ways following established practices in the art, forexample using a single suitably programmed integrated circuit. It willbe appreciated the MTC device 508 will in general comprise various otherelements associated with its operating functionality (e.g. a powersource, possibly a user interface, and so forth).

The base station 504 comprises a transceiver unit 504 a for transmissionand reception of wireless signals and a controller unit 504 b configuredto control the base station 504. The controller unit 504 b may comprisea processor unit which is suitably configured/programmed to provide thedesired functionality described herein using conventionalprogramming/configuration techniques for equipment in wirelesstelecommunications systems. The transceiver unit 504 a and thecontroller unit 504 b are schematically shown in FIG. 5 as separateelements for ease of representation. However, it will be appreciatedthat the functionality of these units can be provided in variousdifferent ways following established practices in the art, for exampleusing a single suitably programmed integrated circuit. It will beappreciated the base station 504 will in general comprise various otherelements associated with its operating functionality. For example, thebase station 504 will in general comprise a scheduling entityresponsible for scheduling communications. The functionality of thescheduling entity may, for example, be subsumed by the controller unit504 b.

Thus, the base station 504 is configured to communicate data with thesmart phone 506 over a first radio communication link 510 andcommunicate data with the MTC device 508 over a second radiocommunication link 512. Both radio links may be supported within asingle radio frame structure associated with the base station 504.

It is assumed here the base station 504 is configured to communicatewith the smart phone 506 over the first radio communication link 510 inaccordance with the established principles of LTE-based communications.It will be appreciated the base station may readily obtain informationindicating the different classes of terminal device which are attachedto the base station in accordance with conventional techniques. That isto say, the base station will be aware that the smart phone is of adevice class that includes conventional smartphones and the MTC deviceis of a device class that includes MTC devices.

FIG. 6 schematically represents two arbitrary downlink subframes(identified as subframe “n” and subframe “n+1”) as seen by the smartphone 506 according to the established LTE standards as discussed above.Each subframe is in essence a simplified version of what is representedin FIG. 3. Thus, each subframe comprises a control region 600 supportingthe PCFICH, PHICH and PDCCH channels as discussed above and a PDSCHregion 602 for communicating higher-layer data (for example user-planedata and non-physical layer control-plane signalling) to respectiveterminal devices, such as the smart phone 506, as well as systeminformation, again as discussed above. For the sake of giving a concreteexample, the frequency bandwidth (BW) of the carrier with which thesubframes are associated is taken to be 20 MHz. Also schematically shownin FIG. 6 by black shading are example PDSCH downlink allocations 604for the smart phone 506. In accordance with the defined standards, andas discussed above, individual terminal devices derive their specificdownlink allocations for a subframe from PDCCH transmitted in thecontrol region 600 of the subframe. For the arbitrary example shown inFIG. 6, the smart phone 506 is allocated downlink resources spanning arelatively small fraction of the 20 MHz bandwidth near to the upper endof the carrier frequency in subframe n, and is allocated a largerfraction of the available 20 MHz bandwidth at a lower frequency insubframe “n+1”. The specific allocations of PDSCH resources for thesmart phone are determined by a scheduler in the network based on thedata needs for the device in accordance with standard techniques.

Although the smart phone 506 is typically only allocated a subset of theavailable PDSCH resources in any given subframe, the smart phone 506could be allocated these resources anywhere across the full PDSCHbandwidth (BW). Accordingly, the smart phone will in the first instancereceive and buffer each entire subframe. The smart phone 506 will thenprocess each subframe to decode PDCCH to determine what resources areallocated on PDSCH, and then process the data received during PDSCHsymbols of the subframe and extracts the relevant higher-layer datatherefrom.

Thus, referring to FIG. 6, the smart phone 506 represented in FIG. 5buffers for each subframe the entire control region 600 (shaded darkgrey in FIG. 6) and the entire PDSCH region 602 (transmitted in theresources contained in the areas shaded light grey and black in FIG. 6),and extracts the higher-layer data allocated to the smart phone(transmitted in the resources contained in the area shaded black in FIG.6) from the PDSCH region 602 based on allocation information conveyed inthe control region 600.

The inventor has recognised that the requirement for terminal devices tobuffer and process each complete subframe to identify and extract whatwill typically be only a small fraction of the total PDSCH resourcescontained in the subframe for the terminal device introduces asignificant processing overhead. Accordingly, the inventor has conceivedof approaches in accordance with which example embodiments of theinvention may allow for a terminal device, for example an MTC device, tooperate generally in accordance with the principles of existingnetworks, but without needing to buffer and process an entire subframeto identify and extract its own higher-layer data from that subframe.

This can be achieved in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention by delaying the timing of certain resource allocationsrelative to the timing of the transmission of control data pertainingfor the resource allocations as compared with conventional techniques.This approach may conveniently be referred to as a “delayed grant” or“delayed allocation” approach. As described above, in accordance withconventional techniques the control region of a given subframe is usedfor allocating resources within that subframe. For example, in an LTEsystem, PDCCH in subframe “n” is used for allocating resources on PDSCHin subframe “n”. However, in accordance with embodiments of theinvention an alternative approach is conceived of in which the controlregion of a given subframe is used for allocating resources within adifferent and subsequent subframe. For example, in the general contextof an LTE-type system, PDCCH is subframe “n” may be used for certaintypes of terminal device for allocating resources on PDSCH in subframe“n+X”, where X is a non-zero positive integer. This delayed-allocationapproach can allow a terminal device to receive and process control datato identify its resource allocations before the allocated resources aretransmitted. The terminal device may thus be configured to receive anddecode only the relevant parts of the subsequent downlink subframecarrying the allocated resources. That is to say, the terminal devicedoes not need to buffer each subframe to ensure it has access to itsallocated resources specified in the allocation information of thecontrol data for the subframe once it has decoded the control data.Instead, the terminal device is able to decode the control data duringthe delay period to identify which (if any) downlink resourceallocations are upcoming, and the subsequently receive and process thecorresponding portions of the relevant downlink subframe accordingly.

FIG. 7 schematically represents an approach for communicating data witha terminal device according to an embodiment of the invention. Morespecifically, FIG. 7 schematically represents two arbitrary downlinksubframes (identified as subframe “n” and subframe “n+1”) as interpretedby the MTC device 508 according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG.7 is in some respects similar to FIG. 6, and aspects of FIG. 7 whichdirectly correspond to aspects of FIG. 6 are not described again indetail. In this example it is assumed the elements and generalprinciples of the frame structure employed for communicating with theMTC device 508 are the same as the elements frame structure used forcommunicating with the conventional smartphone device 506, except wheremodified as discussed below. That is to say, the frame structure usedfor communicating with the MTC device 508 comprises a PDCCH, PDSCH,following general LTE principles. Furthermore, and as discussed above inrelation to FIG. 5, in this particular example communications with theMTC device 508 and the smart phone device 506 are supported within thesame frame transmissions from the base station 504. That is to say, thebase station communicates with the conventional smart phone 506 and theMTC device 508 according to an embodiment of the invention using thesame frames.

Various elements of each subframe in FIG. 7 are in essence representedas simplified versions of corresponding elements of what is representedin FIG. 3. Thus, each subframe comprises a control region 700 supportingchannels corresponding to the PCFICH, PHICH and PDCCH channels asdiscussed above and a PDSCH region 702 for communicating higher-layerdata (for example user-plane data and non-physical layer control-planesignalling) to respective terminal devices, such as the smart phone 506and MTC device 508, as well as system information, again as discussedabove. For the sake of giving a concrete example, the frequencybandwidth (BW) of the carrier with which the subframes are associated istaken to be 20 MHz. Although not shown in FIG. 7 for simplicity, thePDSCH regions 702 may include PDSCH downlink allocations for the smartphone 508 similar to those shown with black shading in FIG. 6. Inaccordance with the general principles underlying the relevantstandards, and as discussed above, individual conventional terminaldevices, such as the smart phone 508, operating within wirelesstelecommunications systems according to embodiments of the invention mayderive their specific downlink allocations for a subframe frominformation transmitted on PDCCH in the control region 700 of therelevant subframe, again as represented in FIG. 6. The control regions700 represented in FIG. 7 may thus be used in accordance with theseestablished principles to identify resource allocations for conventionalterminal devices, such as the smart phone 506, within the same subframe.This aspect of communications with conventional devices supported by thesubframes schematically represented in FIG. 7 may be the same asdescribed above, for example with reference to FIG. 6.

However, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the controlregions 700 of the subframes represented in FIG. 7 also carry delayedresource allocation information for terminal devices operating inaccordance with embodiments of the invention. Thus, in the example shownin FIG. 7, the control region 700 in subframe “n” carries resourceallocation information for downlink resources 704 allocated to the MTCdevice 508 in subframe “n+1”. The MTC device 508 is configured toreceive and decode the control region 700 in subframe “n” in accordancewith broadly conventional techniques. The MTC device 508 may thenprocess the control region from subframe “n” to identify its resourceallocations (if any) during the remaining period of subframe “n”. Thismay be performed according to the same general principles as forconventional devices, the only difference being a difference in thesubframe in which the resource allocations are to be transmitted by thebase station. That is to say, for a conventional terminal device anyresource allocations conveyed in the control region 700 of subframe “n”are associated with resource allocations on PDSCH in subframe “n”,whereas for a terminal device operating in accordance with an embodimentof the invention, resource allocations conveyed in the control region700 of subframe “n” are associated with resource allocations on PDSCH insubframe “n+1”. Thus, having decoded the control region 700 of subframe“n” and identified a resource allocation 704 in subframe “n+1”therefrom, the MTC device 508 is already aware before transmission ofsubframe “n+1” which subcarriers of PDSCH in subframe “n+1” have beenallocated to the MTC device 508. The MTC device may thus buffer andprocess these subcarriers accordingly. Because a terminal device 508operating in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is awarewhich PDSCH resources need to be received and decoded before they aretransmitted, there is no need for the device to buffer and process theentire subframe to extract its resource allocations after they have beentransmitted. This simplifies the processing and storage requirements ofa device operating in accordance with an embodiment of the invention,thereby simplifying the device and helping reduce its cost.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, the terminal devices operating accordingto an embodiment of the invention is allocated resources on PDSCH in asubframe that is delayed relative to the subframe conveying theindication of the resource allocations one subframe. That is to say,indications of resource allocations on PDSCH in a subframe “n+1” areconveyed using PDCCH in subframe “n”. For the sake of convenience interminology, this may be summarised as the delaying of resourceallocations by one subframe. It will be appreciated that in otherexamples the allocated resources may be delayed by other intervals(other numbers of subframes) relative to the transmission of theinformation indicating the allocation of the resources. An example ofthis is schematically represented in FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is similar to, and will be understood from FIG. 7. However, FIG.8 is different from FIG. 7 in that in addition to showing subframes “n”and “n+1” as in FIG. 7, FIG. 8 also schematically represents subframe“n+2”.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, the control region 700 of subframe “n”may be used for allocating resources to conventional terminal devices insubframe “n” (not shown for simplicity) and to terminal devicesaccording to embodiments of the invention in subframe “n+1”, asdiscussed above with reference to FIG. 7. However in addition, thecontrol region 700 of subframe “n” in this example also carries anindication of a resource allocation 706 on PDSCH in subframe “n+2” for aterminal device operating according to an embodiment of the invention.Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 8, the control region 700 in subframe“n” carries resource allocation information for downlink resources 704,706 allocated to terminal devices in subframes “n+1” and “n+2”. Whilstthis shows an example in which terminal devices according to embodimentsof the invention may be allocated physical downlink resources on PDSCHin subframes having different delays relative to the subframe in whichthe resource allocation information is transmitted on PDCCH, in otherexamples it may be the case that the same delay is used for alldelayable terminal devices. The extent of the delay may be set accordingto how much time the respective terminal devices need to process thePDCCH to determine their allocations on PDSCH. In general it may bepreferable for the delay to be as short as possible while still allowingthe terminal devices enough time to properly decode PDCCH to allow themto configure themselves to receive PDSCH on the allocated subcarriers.

In many cases it will be beneficial if the terminal device is aware ofthe delay that is to be employed by the base station and there are anumber of different ways in which information on the delay can beestablished by/shared between the base station 504 and terminal device508.

In some cases the delay may be standardised within the wirelesscommunications system. For example, it may be decided that any terminaldevice and base station which are to operate within the wirelesscommunication system in accordance with an implementation of anembodiment of the invention should assume a delay of one subframe (orother fixed number of subframes). This provides a simple approach, butwith limited flexibility. It will be appreciated that the delay to beused may be established by the base station and terminal device invarious ways based on predefined standards. For example, rather thanexplicitly define the delay, a mechanism for deriving the delay may bedefined. For example, the standards may specify that all terminaldevices which are to operate in accordance with embodiments of theinvention (e.g. based on device class) are to derive a delay from anidentifier that is known to both the base station and the terminaldevice. For example, in a simple implementation any terminal devicesassociated with an odd-numbered IMSI may assume a first delay while anyterminal devices associated with an even IMSI may assume a second delay.This provides a simple mechanism for employing multiple delays which canhelp in sharing the available resources, for example when there is adesire to communicate with a large number of terminal devices usingdelayed resource allocations in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention at around the same time.

However, to improve overall scheduling flexibility it may be preferablein some implementations for the delay to be selected by the base stationand conveyed to the terminal device. For a semi-permanent delay (e.g.One that remains fixed for the duration of a given connection), thiscould be done during a cell-attach procedure. The operating capabilitiesof the terminal device will typically set some limits on the delay thatmay be used. For example a given terminal device may be unable tooperate using a delay having a duration below some threshold. This maybe accounted for by standardisation, for example by limiting the minimumdelay that may be used by the base station for that particular terminaldevice (for example based on the type/class of terminal device), orbased on the exchange of capability messages between the base stationand terminal device.

However, in cases where the delay may be selected from a range ofpossible delays, for example by the base station scheduler functionbased on current traffic conditions, in general it is expected that themost convenient and flexible manner to indicate a selected delay to beused by the base station for transmitting user plane data (or otherhigher layer data) on PDSCH after having transmitted an indication ofthe subcarriers (i.e. resource allocations) on PDCCH in a previoussubframe will be to transmit an indication of the delay in associationwith the transmission of the indication of the resources to beallocated. For example, this might be done by adopting a new format forthe resource allocation messages on PDCCH which allow for the indicationof a delay. For example, the indication of the delay may be anindication of a number of subframes following the current subframe inwhich the allocated PDSCH resource is to be transmitted.

For example, with reference to FIG. 8, the PDCCH signalling in controlregion 700 of subframe “n” indicating the allocation of the PDSCHresources 704 in subframe “n+1” may be associated with an indication ofone subframe delay. Similarly, the PDCCH signalling in control region700 of subframe “n” indicating the allocation of the PDSCH resources 706in subframe “n+2” may be associated with an indication of two subframesdelay. In the context of LTE, an indication of the delay may be providedby adopting a modified downlink control information (DCI) format. Thus,delayed-grant resource allocations such as described above may beassociated with a modified DCI format as compared to conventionalresource allocations in which the resources are allocated in the samesubframe as the PDCCH indication of the resources.

This provides a base station scheduler with enhanced flexibility incommunicating data with terminal devices following a delayed grantapproach in accordance with embodiments of the invention. This isbecause the base station is free to schedule downlink transmissions onPDCCH in multiple subsequent subframes, thereby allowing the basestation to better accommodate changes in traffic. Furthermore, a basestation may be configured to recognise that different types of terminaldevice have different capabilities (e.g. based on a defined class typeshared during a camp on procedure or defined in a register of thenetwork for the terminal device) and to allocate different delaysaccordingly. For example particularly low capability devices may beprovided with greater delays to give them more time to decode PDCCHbefore transmission of any corresponding user plane data that has beenallocated on PDSCH.

In some examples the terminal device may not be aware in advance of adelay that is to be used by the base station between transmittingresource allocation information on PDCCH and transmitting the associateduser-plane data on PDSCH. For example, in some implementations the basestation may be configured to allocate delayed resources for a terminaldevice according to an embodiment of the invention by providing anindication of the relevant subcarriers on PDCCH in subframe “n” asdiscussed above. The base station may then transmit user plane data onthe allocated subcarriers in a subsequent subframe “n+X” having anarbitrary delay (i.e. a delay “X” that is selected by the base stationand not known to the terminal device). In such a system, a terminaldevice operating in accordance with an embodiment of the invention maydecode PDCCH in subframe “n” and identify the allocated subcarriers asdiscussed above go to sleep. Because the terminal device in this examplewill not know the subframe in which the actual resources will betransmitted (i.e. the terminal device does not know “X”), the terminaldevice may simply proceed to attempt to decode the relevant subcarriersidentified in the resource allocation on PDCCH in subframe “n” on thenext and every subsequent subframe until the terminal devices able tosuccessfully decode the relevant resources on PDSCH.

It will be appreciated that whilst the above embodiments have focusedprimarily on delaying PDSCH transmissions for certain types of terminaldevice relative to other types of terminal device, the concept ofdelayed grant allocations may be applied more generally. For example,even when communicating with a terminal device having the ability tobuffer and decode an entire subframe in a conventional manner such thatit is possible to allocate PDSCH resources in the same subframe as thePDCCH resources indicating the allocation (as is currently done), it maynonetheless be advantageous in some circumstances to allocate delayedgrants. For example, this can help provide a base station scheduler witha greater degree of flexibility for sharing the available PDCCHresources for allocating PDSCH resources in different subframes.

For example, it is in principle possible that there will not besufficient PDCCH resources to allocate all of the available PDSCHresources in any given subframe. This might be the case, for example,where there are lots of terminal devices allocated small amounts ofresources on PDSCH. In such circumstances it is possible there are notbe enough resources available on PDCCH to individually allocate all theavailable PDSCH resources to the large number of terminal devices in asingle subframe. This can be the case even if there are there aresufficient PDSCH resources to carry the data to be communicated. In aconventional LTE system this issue can therefore potentially lead to awaste of resources in that available PDSCH resources cannot be allocatedbecause of a lack of PDCCH resources. However, in accordance withembodiments of the invention, a base station scheduling function whichis aware of an upcoming subframe in which there are insufficient PDCCHresources to allocate all of the available PDSCH resources for thesubframe may allocate those PDSCH resources on PDCCH in an earliersubframe. The implementation principles for doing this follow thosedescribed above for the case of delaying grant for a reduced-capabilityterminal device, a difference being the reason behind the decision toallocate downlink resources for a terminal device in a subframe which islater than the subframe carrying the indication of the allocation ofdownlink resources. In the examples described above forreduced-capability terminal devices the delayed grant is to provide theterminal devices with sufficient time to decode the resource allocationinformation before needing to receive and decode the allocated (granted)resources. However, in accordance with other embodiments of theinvention, the delayed grant may be to allow the base station schedulingfunction to use available PDCCH resources to allocate PDSCH resources inother subframes for which there would otherwise be insufficient PDCCHresources.

This principle is schematically represented in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is ingeneral similar to, and will be understood, from FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. Thus,each subframe comprises a control region 900 and a PDSCH region 902. ForFIG. 9 it is assumed that PDSCH in subframe “n+1” is to be used forconveying user plane data to a large number of separate terminal devices(which might readily happen when communicating with the MTC-type devicesrequiring only small amounts of information at any time, for example).The conventional aspects of the base station scheduling function may beresponsible for managing the resource allocations which results in thissituation. Because of the large number of individual terminal devices tobe allocated resources in subframe “n+1”, the corresponding controlregion 900 in subframe “n+1” is heavily utilised, and may indeed becomefull before it has been possible to allocate all the available PDSCHresources in subframe “n+1”. In accordance with an embodiment of theinvention, the base station scheduler is configured to identify thissituation has arisen (the base station can readily identify this becausethe base station is ultimately responsible for the scheduling) and todetermine whether it is possible to advance-allocate PDSCH resources insubframe “n+1” using control signalling on PDCCH in subframe “n”,thereby avoiding wastage of PDSCH resources in subframe “n+1” whichmight otherwise not be allocatable. If the base station determines it ispossible to advance-allocate PDSCH resources in subframe “n+1” usingcontrol signalling on PDCCH in subframe “n” (e.g. because there is aterminal device to be scheduled on PDSCH in subframe “n+1” whichsupports delayed grant as described above and there are availableresources on PDSCH in subframe “n” to convey the resource allocationinformation), the base station may be configured to allocate resourcesto one or more terminal devices on PDSCH in subframe “n+1” using controlsignalling on PDCCH in subframe “n” following the principles of theabove-described techniques. This is represented in FIG. 9 by heavyarrows schematically representing PDSCH resource allocations in subframe“n+1” being conveyed in the respective control regions 900 of subframes“n” and “n+1”. The control region 900 subframe “n” is schematicallyshown with lighter shading than the control region 900 of subframe “n+1”to indicate the reduced utilisation of the available PDCCH resources inthis subframe.

Thus, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention atelecommunications system may be configured to support a system ofresource allocations in which information conveying an indication of aresource allocation in one subframe is transmitted in another subframe.In some situations this might be performed to give certain types ofterminal device more time to decode the resource allocation informationbefore needing to decode the resource allocation itself. In othersituations this might be performed to allow the base station to employunderutilised allocation resources in one subframe to allocate resourcesin another subframe. These two types of situation might be convenientlyreferred to as “delayed grant” or “advanced allocation”.

It will be appreciated that the above-described functionality may beimplemented with appropriate configuration of the relevant elements ofthe telecommunication system elements (e.g. the base station andterminal devices) in accordance with conventional techniques forproviding such types of functionality. Typically this will be throughappropriate programming of the relevant elements. For example, thescheduling of downlink resource allocations on PDSCH for the variousterminal devices operating within the telecommunication system and thetiming of the associated signalling on PDCCH for providing operation inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention may be governed byappropriate modification of a base station scheduler otherwise operatingin accordance with conventional techniques.

Although embodiments of the invention have been described primarily withreference to an LTE mobile radio network, it will be appreciated thatthe present invention can be applied to other forms of network such asGSM, 3G/UMTS, CDMA2000, etc.

Thus, there has been described a method of operating atelecommunications system comprising a base station and a plurality ofterminal devices arranged to communicate over a radio interfacesupporting a downlink shared channel for conveying user-plane data fromthe base station to the terminal devices and a downlink control channelfor conveying control-plane data from the base station to the terminaldevices, wherein the control-plane data is arranged to conveyinformation on physical resource allocations for the downlink sharedchannel for respective ones of the terminal devices, and wherein theradio interface is based on a radio frame structure comprising aplurality of subframes, wherein each subframe comprises a control regionfor supporting the downlink control channel and a user-plane region forsupporting the downlink shared channel, and wherein the method comprisesusing the control region of a first radio subframe to convey anindication of a physical resource allocation for a first terminal deviceon the shared downlink channel in the user-plane region of a secondradio subframe, the second radio frame being subsequent to the firstradio subframe.

Further particular and preferred aspects of the present invention areset out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. It will beappreciated that features of the dependent claims may be combined withfeatures of the independent claims in combinations other than thoseexplicitly set out in the claims.

REFERENCES

-   [1] ETSI TS 122 368 V10.530 (2011-07)/3GPP TS 22.368 version 10.5.0    Release 10)-   [2] UK patent application GB 1101970.0-   [3] UK patent application GB 1101981.7-   [4] UK patent application GB 1101966.8-   [5] UK patent application GB 1101983.3-   [6] UK patent application GB 1101853.8-   [7] UK patent application GB 1101982.5-   [8] UK patent application GB 1101980.9-   [9] UK patent application GB 1101972.6-   [10] UK patent application GB 1121767.6-   [11] UK patent application GB 1121766.8-   [12] R1-113113, Pantech USA, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 #66bis meeting,    Zhuhai, China, 10 Oct. 2011 to 14 Oct. 2011-   [13] Holma H. and Toskala A, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based    radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a terminal device,the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, in a controlregion of a first radio subframe an indication of a physical resourceallocation for the terminal device on a shared downlink channel in auser-plane region of a second radio subframe; and subsequentlyreceiving, from the base station, user-plane data on the physicalresource allocation for the terminal device on the shared downlinkchannel in the user-plane region of the second radio subframe, whereinthe second radio subframe is transmitted with a delay after transmittingthe first radio subframe, the delay being adjusted by the base stationdepending on the terminal device, wherein the base station, based on adefined class type shared during a camp on procedure, recognizes a classtype of the first terminal device as a machine-type, the class typeincluding at least a smartphone-type and the machine-type, themachine-type being semi-autonomous or autonomous wireless communicationtype terminal device having bandwidth capabilities lower than asmartphone-type device, and the base station increases the delay basedon the recognized class type.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving the second radio subframe after the first radiosubframe.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving thesecond radio subframe after a duration which corresponds with apredefined number of subframes.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving the second radio subframe a selectable intervalafter the first radio subframe; and receiving the physical resourceallocation for the terminal device in association with an indication ofa selected interval.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:receiving the physical resource allocation for the terminal device inassociation with an indication of the selected interval indicating anumber of subframes.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a physical resource allocation for a second terminal device onthe shared downlink channel in the user-plane region of the first radiosubframe by using the control region of the first radio subframe.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device of afirst type, the method further comprising: receiving the physicalresource allocation for the second terminal device, which is a terminaldevice of a second type that is different from the first type, on theshared downlink channel in the user-plane region of the first radiosubframe by using the control region of the first radio subframe.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising: receiving the physical resourceallocation for the terminal device using a first format for conveyingcontrol-plane data; and receiving the physical resource allocation forthe second terminal device in a second format for conveyingcontrol-plane data, the second format being different from the firstformat.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising: receiving thephysical resource allocation for the terminal device using a firstformat for conveying control-plane data; and receiving the physicalresource allocation for the second terminal device in the first formatfor conveying control-plane data.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving in the control region of the first radio subframethe indication of the physical resource allocation for the terminaldevice, which is a machine-type communication device, on the shareddownlink channel in the user-plane region of the second radio subframe.11. A terminal device comprising: circuitry configured to: receive, froma base station, in a control region of a first radio subframe anindication of a physical resource allocation for the terminal device ona shared downlink channel in a user-plane region of a second radiosubframe; and subsequently receive, from the base station, user-planedata on the physical resource allocation for the terminal device on theshared downlink channel in the user-plane region of the second radiosubframe, wherein the second radio subframe is transmitted with a delayafter transmitting the first radio subframe, the delay being adjusted bythe base station depending on the terminal device, wherein the basestation, based on a defined class type shared during a camp onprocedure, recognizes a class type of the first terminal device as amachine-type, the class type including at least a smartphone-type andthe machine-type, the machine-type being semi-autonomous or autonomouswireless communication type terminal device having bandwidthcapabilities lower than a smartphone-type device, and the base stationincreases the delay based on the recognized class type.
 12. The terminaldevice of claim 11, wherein the circuitry is further configured toreceive the second radio subframe after the first radio subframe. 13.The terminal device of claim 12, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to receive the second radio subframe after a duration whichcorresponds with a predefined number of subframes.
 14. The terminaldevice of claim 11, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:receive the second radio subframe a selectable interval after the firstradio subframe; and receive the physical resource allocation for theterminal device in association with an indication of a selectedinterval.
 15. The terminal device of claim 14, wherein the circuitry isfurther configured to receive the physical resource allocation for theterminal device in association with an indication of the selectedinterval indicating a number of subframes.
 16. The terminal device ofclaim 11, wherein the circuitry is further configured to receive thephysical resource allocation for the terminal device using a firstformat for conveying control-plane data, the first format beingdifferent from a second format of a physical resource allocation used bya second terminal device.
 17. The terminal device of claim 11, whereinthe circuitry is further configured to receive the physical resourceallocation for the terminal device using a first format for conveyingcontrol-plane data, the first format also being the same format of aphysical resource allocation used by a second terminal device.
 18. Theterminal device of claim 11, wherein the circuitry is further configuredto receive in the control region of the first radio subframe theindication of the physical resource allocation for the terminal device,which is a machine-type communication device, on the shared downlinkchannel in the user-plane region of the second radio subframe.